Luke the Warrior
:"A coward dies a thousand times, but a warrior dies only once." :— Luke's final words to Vilu Daskar Luke the Warrior was the father of Martin the Warrior and husband of Sayna. His father was also named Martin, and his best friend was Vurg. He and his tribe settled in caves along the western shore to the far north, after being driven out of St. Ninian's by Verdauga Greeneyes. When his wife was killed by Vilu Daskar, Luke was deeply hurt and swore revenge against the evil stoat. After leaving his sword to his young son whom he had raised as best as he could given his background and the fact that he was unused to child-rearing, he sailed off on the Sayna, a ship named in memory of his wife. He had captured it from corsair vermin led by Captain Reynard Chopsnout, who had attempted to raid his tribe. Luke sailed the sea for a long time, searching for Vilu, without success. One night, when the Sayna was drifting near Twin Islands, Vilu's ship Goreleech rammed into the Sayna, utterly destroying it. The vermin took Luke and two others prisoner as oarslaves. The rest of the crew were assumed dead. Luke tricked Vilu and managed to convince him that there was a treasure hidden at the shores of his home. Vilu chained Luke to the steering wheel of the Goreleech, and ordered Luke to lead them to the treasure. By then, two others of the Sayna's crew, whom Luke had initially assumed were dead, had sneaked aboard the ship and had prepared the prisoners for battle on the Goreleech. Luke steered back to the caves and attempted to alert Martin to their arrival, hoping for help from his tribe in fighting Vilu's crew. Upon seeing that the caves were deserted, he assumed Martin and the rest of the tribe had been killed by vermin. Vilu, who had suspected what Luke was up to, mocked him. Luke pretended to be beaten, and to meekly sail towards where the treasure was. Vilu fell for it again, but in fact the grief-stricken warrior was now planning to destroy Vilu and his vermin at all costs. At Luke's signal, the slaves began to fight the vermin crew. The berserk squirrel Ranguvar Foeseeker led the fight and slaughtered many, telling Luke that she and the others would make a last stand if need be. In his final despair and rage, Luke deliberately smashed the Goreleech into a cluster of giant offshore stone pillars called Tall Rocks. Vilu begged for mercy shortly before the impact, realizing what Luke was about to do, but Luke refused, intent on his revenge. The ship was torn in half, one section wedging between the rocks and the other carrying Luke, Vilu, Ranguvar, and most of the vermin to the bottom of the sea, thus avenging Sayna and the others Vilu had slain. As an adult, Martin later visited the remains of the Goreleech, and dropped a special pebble into the ocean in his father's honor. ]] Trivia *Luke's final words to Vilu Daskar are based upon a quote from the William Shakespeare play Julius Caesar: "Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant never taste of death but once." *Luke and Lord Stonepaw are the only named Redwall characters who deliberately took their own lives. In both cases, the action might be considered a kamikaze move, as they killed several enemies in the process. *In the Redwall TV Series, Luke went after Badrang the Tyrant instead of Vilu Daskar. fr:Luc Category:Mice Category:Heroes Category:Martin the Warrior Characters Category:The Legend of Luke Characters Category:Recurring characters Category:Males Category:Slaves Category:Characters